Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh by Bicycle
Last year I rode 589 miles from Barcelona, Spain to San Remo, Italy. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I’ve ever done and this year I wanted to see if I could outdo myself. That’s why I’m heading to Vietnam in a couple of weeks to ride almost 1,100 miles from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. This time will be a little different as I’ll be joined by my friend and Wealthfront colleague, Keith Mi Yeung. It will also be a much flatter route than my European adventure but the Vietnamese coast still promises to provide plenty of beautiful scenery.
The Data
- Time: 11 days (Dec 20–Dec 30)
- Moving time: 67 hours, 45 minutes (est.)
- Distance: 1,051 miles (1,691 km)
- Elevation: 17,872 feet (5,447 m)
- Cities: 11
- Average Speed: 17.0 mph (est.)
- Average Power: 150 watts (est.)
- Calories : 33,700 (est.) (according to MyFitnessPal that’s 58 bahn mi)
- Weather: low — 59F, high — 86F (est.)
The Route
Based on other people’s accounts of similar bike trips through Vietnam, you can choose one of two routes to ride from Hanoi down to Ho Chi Minh City. The first is through the middle of the country and is very hilly and quite remote. The second is along the coast and is mostly flat as a pancake and is peppered with hotels and resorts. Given that we are already covering over 1,000 miles in just 11 days, we decided to forgo the added challenge of the elevation and follow the ocean. Here’s the entire route.
Segments
And here are our 10 days of riding:
Hanoi to Thanh Hóa — 12/20/16 | 104 miles
Thanh Hóa to Ha Tinh —12/21/16 | 115 miles
Ha Tinh to Dong Hoi — 12/22/16 | 93 miles
Dong Hoi to Hue — 12/23/16 | 103 miles
Hue to Tam Hai — 12/24/16 | 119 miles
Christmas Day in Tam Hai — 12/25/16 | 0 miles
Tam Hai to Quy Nhon —12/26/16 | 144 miles
Quy Nhon to Nha Trang — 12/27/16 | 127 miles
Nha Trang to Phan Rang — 12/28/16 | 59 miles
Phan Rang to Phan Thiet — 12/29/16 | 88 miles
Phan Thiet to Ho Chi Minh — 12/30/16 | 121 miles
Other Stuff
If you’re into this sort of thing you can follow our progress on Instagram, Snapchat and, of course, Strava. And I’ll be sure to post a recap here on Medium when it’s all over.
